DanielUser experience, commonly referred to as UX, is a component of customer experience. Creating a good user experience makes it easier to buy or use a product or service while creating a positive emotional impact.
In the digital world, importance of Software Design has increased and allows you to offer a quality touch point to your potential customers through any technological interface (website, blog, app, tablet interface, etc.). It becomes all the more important in the context of the digital transformation of companies.
What is user experience?
User experience is a broad concept that refers to the experience that a user has when they benefit from your offer. It combines all the strategies and actions implemented to optimize the customer experience and, as a consequence, the relationship between a brand and its customers. It can be applied to products, services, or digital systems. This overall feeling arises from the use, causing a certain level of subjective satisfaction, and from the imprint left in the memory.
For a product, service, or system, user experience is built on the basis of the following 5 criteria:
Is it accessible? Is it adaptable to the context, profile, and state of the user?
Is it usable? Is it easy to understand, use, and therefore effective?
Is it useful? Does it meet the real needs of the user, does it provide added value?
Is it desirable? Does it evoke desire and confidence, does it entice the audience?
Is it credible? Does it offer reliable content, and does it draw on experience?
Finally, it must also align with the company's goals;
User-centered design
The term UX is often associated with digital technology and the growing scope of new technologies, but the truth is that user experience goes beyond that.
Even more than the functional or technical characteristics of the product or service you are selling, the central importance is the entire experience created around it and through it: the sensations it gives, the ease it provides, the emotions it evokes, the memories it leaves behind, etc. This experience will contribute to the interaction between the person and the brand and will play in favor of a good relationship with customers.
Design thinking: a methodology for UX design.
Design thinking, literally thinking about design, is a process used by designers to realize innovative projects. This process puts the user at the center, that is, it detects a problem and tries to solve it by designing solutions that meet the user's needs. It is based on an iterative approach:
Design-thinking is used in UX design to create a good user experience by following the following steps:
empathy: putting yourself in people's shoes to understand how they will interact with the product;
definition: identifying the problems that need to be solved;
ideation: finding solutions by letting your creativity flow (brainstorming);
prototyping: choose the most suitable solution and create a trial version;
test: testing a concept, welcoming new ideas, or redefining a problem to improve the prototype (and therefore the product);
UX design and UI design: two different concepts
The terms UX design and UI design are often linked together. As we have seen, the former refers to user experience (UX) design in a broad sense, while the latter refers to user interface (UI) design. The two concepts are different but closely related.
User interface design is based on technology
Interface design is based on a technical, codified aspect and aims at organizing textual and graphical elements based on technical standards. In particular, it includes visual style, graphics, and editorial charter, elements oriented mainly on the aesthetic aspect.
UX design is user-centered
User experience applied to digital interfaces (websites, applications, etc.) in turn embodies the functional aspect in a broad sense and aims to provide the Internet user with a navigation system that is as intuitive as possible. It therefore includes the design of a good interface, but also takes into account other parameters such as its accessibility, its compatibility with different systems, and its consistency to create a flexible and harmonized experience on all digital media.
Conclusion
In conclusion, enhancing user experience is crucial for building strong connections between a brand and its customers. By focusing on usability, accessibility, and emotional impact, businesses can create more satisfying interactions. Utilizing UX professionals and adopting methodologies like design thinking can significantly improve the overall customer journey, ensuring that products and services not only meet user needs but also create memorable and positive experiences.
